KUANTAN: Veteran preschool teacher Noorjahan Sultan has made history by winning the coveted Pearson ELT Teacher award for the year 2018.

With over 20 years of teaching experience under her belt, Noorjahan is best known for pioneering Let’s Rhyme, a method of English language learning based on the alphabet and thematic rhyming, in 2009.

Speaking to reporters today, Noorjahan, 47, said she did not expect to come out on top as she faced stiff competition from top educators from around the world.

The mother-of-three said she only submitted her video entry at the eleventh hour on Dec 30, and that she was required to answer two questions on education issues.

“The video I recorded was nothing extraordinary compared to entries sent by thousands of other teachers. I only inserted some creativity in my presentation before answering the questions.

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Her video was reviewed by a panel of judges and she beat out 38 other finalists to win the Pearson ELT Teacher award under the Asia and Oceania category.

Two weeks ago, the award’s organiser uploaded her winning two-minute video entry to Youtube, which has received 8,000 views. Her video has also been used to promote the award.

Noorjahan, who now works as an education technology officer at the state education department, was previously a preschool teacher at SK Indera Mahkota Utama here.

Her unique English language learning module had netted her various awards on both the national and international stages.

Besides being picked as the 2016 National Teacher Icon, Noorjahan was also a finalist for the 2016 Global Teacher Award.

“As a recipient of the Pearson ELT Teacher award, I will be heading to Brighton in the United Kingdom to attend the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language gathering,” she said.

She also said she would be attending the Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages gathering in Chicago, the United States, from April 10 to 13.

The Kuantan-native said she hoped that her success would spur renewed enthusiasm among educators in Malaysia to provide the best learning experiences to their students.

She added that her Let's Rhyme module, which incorporates fun in English language lessons, was now being practised at an educational institution in Brunei.